Something awful happened in the Iraqi town of Haditha. Something worse, however, is happening in the world media.

On Nov. 19, 2005, a fight ensued in Haditha. Exactly what occurred is still not clear. What is clear is that 24 Iraqis were killed, some of them women and children.

U.S. forces are accused of &8220;losing it&8221; and murdering unarmed civilians.

If that is ultimately what occurred, we trust the military will deal with the soldiers in the appropriate fashion.

But some members of the national and world media have already convicted the soldiers. Family members of the Iraqis who were killed have called for the execution of the U.S. soldiers.

While we certainly do not condone the deaths, we feel everyone needs to realize just how stressful the situation in Iraq is for U.S. troops.

American soldiers are trained to kill. It may not be something some of us like to consider, but it&8217;s true. Armies are trained to fight wars and killing is a key part of that.

The mission in Iraq shifted from fighting a war to policing a country after the first few weeks of the conflict. Asking soldiers to take on an enemy which may or may not look just like a civilian and who may or may not hide alongside civilians isn&8217;t fair. Mistakes will almost certainly be made. It&8217;s a wonder more instances such as the awful destruction in Haditha haven&8217;t occurred.

The U.S. needs to quickly get our troops out of the business of policing a hostile country and back to what they&8217;re trained for &8212; prepared to fight a war in our defense.